Month: August 2020

Grand definitely seems to be in a mode where it is having four to six Turban delays if it doesn't erupt then. I didn't see the delay this morning, but all the Turban intervals and durations matched what I have seen after the other ones of the past few days.

This eruption itself had two bursts. The conditions were about a good as they get. It was late morning, so the sun was still backlighting the eruption as seen from the northern benches. There was no wind, and the sky was blue to the ridges. It was almost as perfect as 90% of the reported Fountain and Great Fountain eruptions are described to be.

Checked out the Fan & Mortar area. Nothing much exciting there, although there is no garbage mode, but definitely cycling. Noticed that the Link runoff culvert has a lot of dried and dying slime mats, implying that it's been a while since the last strong minor eruption.

The afternoon One Burst Grand fit the pattern. There was a 30 minute long delay Turban interval on which Grand erupted three minutes into the window.

This time of year, arriving at Norris at 06:00 means it's still dark. Last month it was light for the drive from Madison Jct.

The parking lot was empty when we arrived, and over the next few hours a few people filtered in for the wait. The wind of the previous few days was gone, the sky was completely clear and there was little precipitation onto the platform.

The wait was pretty dull. No longer does it seem that New Crater/Steamboat has big, notable minors. Instead, the only sign of any progress seems to be that the South Vent becomes more voluminous and the platform to the left becomes wetter.

I'd just returned from a parking lot run less than ten minutes earlier, and was starting to read a book when suddenly the activity picked up. As with the 2020 August 03 eruption, there was no warning. Within seconds, the eruption was starting.

This eruption start seemed wider and not as tall as others I've seen. The wind direction was toward Echinus, so we never were in danger of getting wet. It took a while for the water to start down the North Vent's runoff channel, and none of the other channels under the switchback had water. North Vent only briefly went slightly gray, then was back to clean. Few rocks were thrown.

Later in the evening did go out for a nighttime One Burst Grand Eruption. It lasted long enough to insure no chance of a second burst.

Update:
Forgot to mention that on the drive back from Norris, I did see something erupting in T.Scott Bryan's Tangled Geysers group. I always glance over that way assuming the traffic allows for it. The feature was at least a meter tall, looking a lot like Old Tardy, and active the whole time it was visible.

I figured getting out to Grand after a double interval of twelve hours would mean I'd get to wait a bit. Instead, I was at Belgian when the One Burst Grand eruption started.

From there it was a quick check to confirm that the Giant platform was completely dry and ignorable for now. Also wanted to look at Fan & Mortar, who had the start of a nice, normal cycle. No garbage mode that I could see.

Leaving there, I noticed that Grotto Fountain was bubbling. Didn't have to wait long before the pressure pool was suddenly full of water and almost to overflow. It was a ten minute long eruption before Grotto started, and it lasted over 21 minutes, ending suddenly. There was also activity from South Grotto Fountain before and after Grotto started.

The day started out breezy, and was extremely windy by the time for the next Grand wait. I had to wait almost half an hour to see my first Turban eruption, and it was six more Turban intervals before Grand finally erupted. The behavior was similar to yesterday's two long delays.

But we got a reward. Grand quit at around 7-1/2 minutes, then we got a short second burst start thanks to the wind. It looked like after about a minute that it would stop, but at that point the burst settled into nearly three minutes of Big Sawmill Mode. The followup West Triplet lasted only 26 minutes, but the restart was after that.

It was still windy in the evening, and cloudy so there wasn't any chance of a sunlit eruption even if it went early. As it was, arrived at what was probably near the start of a West Triplet eruption. As it erupted, Grand looked good much of that time. So once again we got an early delay.

Fortunately, it was only a two Turban interval delay until the One Burst Grand Eruption. Was enough light to see it. Would have been cooler and darker if it had waited.

It's amusing that it appears Grand has been bimodal the last few days, mostly erupting outside the NPS window on either side. Even this evening's eruption fits in, in that it tried to erupt early.

The middle of the night One Burst Grand eruption continued the number of short intervals I've seen recently. The sky was overcast, so not much opportunity for any meteor observing.

I did have to wait a Turban interval, but that one ended with another of those Turban starts where it just feels like Grand wants to start. The power of Turban, combined with the hint of steam getting thicker over Grand proved to be correct. That eruption was one of those with several minutes of Big Sawmill, padding the duration out to 12-1/2 minutes.

West Triplet started before the eruption, and right after Grand finally quit. Rift started.

Went out again in the morning for the next One Burst Grand. It was overcast, breezy, and cool. Got a Turban Delay with the first Turban eruption after arriving. This one even featured a small Grand boop several minutes before Turban started. Right after the boop, the pool dropped and kept dropping.

Ended up having a six Turban delay, although if one of the intervals had been about 30 seconds longer, it would have been a D2/D4. Several of the Turban intervals featured weak or no overflow from Grand, and short durations for Turban. It finally erupted on a short Turban interval where the pool was full by eleven minutes and then kept slowly filling with lots of waves.

The pool drained after the first burst, then refilled. It sloshed for over a minute before until Vent started having some powerful jetting, signaling the end. With the draining, Vent & Turban quit almost immediately.

Also got to see a Churn eruption from the benches right before the first Turban Delay. At some point, would be nice to see one up close.

The afternoon One Burst Grand was almost a repeat of the morning's activity. There wasn't a threat of rain, but it was overcast, cool, and windy. The interval was slightly longer even though the Turban Delay was for five intervals instead of six. West Triplet was ending an eruption as I arrived, and it started again during the Grand eruption.

All three Grand eruptions today were outside the NPS prediction windows. The first was before, the later two were after.

It was a day to do things outside the thermal areas. Although, I did visit Mud Volcano for about an hour for the first time this century. Took some video which will have to wait until September to get posted.

Did go out after dark for the One Burst Grand eruption. Expected to wait a while, instead got an interval under 5-1/2 hours. That's four eruptions in a row where I've waited less than a Turban interval.

Found out during the night that there was no need to go to Norris. Woke up to find that Fan & Mortar had finally erupted. Out at Grand, waited 30 minutes for Turban to finally start. Grand's pool was low at the time, but quickly filled and we got a One Burst Eruption with an interval of less than six hours.

The next One Burst Grand eruption was also on a short interval. Arrived for the last minute of a West Triplet eruption, and Grand started less than 15 minutes later.

After that, spent mid-afternoon waiting on Geyser Hill, since Beehive has been having one day intervals this week. Turns out in quick succession, we got Lion and Beehive eruptions, and then, after about ten minutes, an Aurum eruption.

The final One Burst Grand eruption of the day was also a Turban Delay start. I didn't see the previous Turban eruption, but it had been over 25 minutes when Grand had its first boop. Over the next 80 seconds, there were several of them, some to 2 to 3 meters in height. Finally, one of the boop went from boiling to jetting, and the eruption started.

So I saw three Grand eruptions today, and didn't see any Turban intervals, but did see to Turban Delays.

Another day pretty much like the previous. Again, there was some nice activity from New Crater/Steamboat during the morning, but by afternoon it had settled into a mode where it looked like it was trying to start, but as soon as the North Vent started to build, it would die down instead.

I also didn't get to see the bear that wandered up Tantalus Creek and headed off toward the parking lot.

Arrived at Norris in the dark. It appeared that New Crater/Steamboat was much improved from yesterday. But that only lasted until mid-morning. As the day progressed, it regressed. When we left just before sunset, the activity seemed to be little better than what we'd see yesterday. The platform and rocks around the South Vent were dry, as well as the back runoff channel. A disappointing day.

Spent about an hour and a half at Norris to confirm that it was way too early for a Steamboat/New Crater eruption. The activity was even quieter than when we arrived for the previous eruption. Based on this, we figured there was at least six to eight hours before the chance for an eruption, and left.

Got back just in time to head out to Grand. The interesting things about the morning One Burst Grand eruption was the way Vent and Turban died down to almost nothing, then came roaring back. Stuck around for the possibility of afterbursts, but the afterplay didn't start for over ten minutes.

Mid-afternoon Beehive eruption had a slow start, with about ten seconds of large surges to about 5-7 meters before actually starting. But despite the wind, it was a nice tall eruption.

The afternoon had another One Burst Grand Eruption. This time Cent & Turban did quit, and it took nearly 24 minutes for them to restart. Once again there was a short, 6 minute West Triplet eruption after Grand quit.

Was probably the last opportunity for a moon-lit Grand eruption, so went out even though the high clouds scattered the light so that there weren't sharp shadows. Unlike most nighttime eruptions, the breeze for the One Burst Eruption was not to the north, so the eruption was nicely visible from the wooden benches area.

With the parking lot scheduled to be gone next year, a trip out to Imperial was fairly high on the list of things to do this year.

We got a later start than intended, and the lot was well over half full by the time we arrived around 09:00. There were considerable number of people going beyond the overloop not just to Fairy Falls, but to Imperial. The whole hour we were there, there was at least another group present.

Imperial erupted continuously whiile we were there. Some of the bursts were huge. From where we were at the last trees before the mudpots, some of the water was visible well above the ridgeline. If my math is correct, these bursts were around 12.5m (45ft) high.

Also watched Spray coming and going. Didn't get intervals, but did see it slow down each time, stop for perhaps 15 seconds, the slowly restart.

Arrived back to the Upper Basin just as the Grand eruption window was opening. Went out and there was already no room on any of the benches, except one wooden one at the very north. Once Vent started, I made my way down toward Rift, as the spray from the wind, while not reaching the boardwalk, was obscuring the water column. Did get a second burst, a nice tall one. And Vent & Turban didn't quit afterward.

Not much to say about the evening One Burst Grand Eruption. Rift was erupting as I arrived. It appears there was a Turban Delay in progress then, based on the next Turban eruption being without overflow and having both short interval and duration. The delay was for three Turban intervals, and Rift quit during Grand's eruption.

West Triplet was in eruption as we arrived at the Grand Group. It lasted only about five more minutes. Then it was an hour and a half of short Turban eruptions and intervals. That ended with what seemed like, at first, just another Turban eruption. But this one built in strength, and with the moonlight, it appeared that the steam over Grand was getting stronger.

Finally, after 2m12s, Grand began erupting. The first burst was short, followed by a short second burst. The breeze made it easy to see the entire water column in the moonlight. With a duration of less than ten minutes, we knew that the odds of a third burst were poor, but possible. What we didn't expect was for Vent & Turban to quit.

Up for the next Grand eruption with the sun well above the trees, and it already starting to get warm. This One Burst Eruption at least lasted just over ten minutes. At around 8-1/2 minutes, Grand went into full Big Sawmill mode. At one point, around the nine minutes mark, there were distinct bursts maybe four meters high for a period of about ten seconds. But it could never find a way to quit. The activity picked up a little before it all quit.

It had been well over 20 hours since the last time Artemisia erupted. So went on down there since there wasn't much else to do. After about two hour wait, finally got the thumps signalling the start. Pretty standard eruption, although the steam plume never overwhelmed the observation deck like the last time.

Looks like Beehive has found the ability to erupt daily again. Got the Indicator call, went over to Geyser Hill to see it, and made the mistake of not staying put but instead trying to run through the rain. At least a nice warm day, and dried out while waiting for Grand next.

Saw a big burst out of Depression as I was tying up my bike at Castle. Over at Grand, only had to wait one Turban interval for the One Burst Eruption. Afterwards, watched Slurp erupting and actually putting out a trickle of water. A major eruption.

For the sunset One Burst Grand Eruption, the sun disappeared behind a thin bank of clouds just as the waves on the pool started getting big.

It was mostly a Grand day. It started with a moonlight One Burst Eruption just after midnight. There was a hint of moonbows in the steam, which obscured the start.

The morning One Burst Grand eruption could've been a bit better. The sun was just starting to illumintate the tops of the jets. With a duration of just over 9 minutes, a second burst would have looke quite nice.

Later, just before noon, I walked up on the start of Rift. The water had yet to reach the boardwalk. After another One Burst Grand eruption, Rift was still active. Grand erupted on a Turban Delay, with some booping around four minutes before the actual start. The start itself was slow, with building boiling before a nice bubble start.

I did get to see an eruption of Bulger's Hole. Bulger had been having its frequent minors, and I caught one just after the Grand Eruption. Ten minutes later, it had a major eruption. Four minutes into that, the Hold erupted to 2 to 3 meters for about 30 seconds, then quickly draining.

Also saw the start of Grotto Fountain. The top of the water column was easily over the tops of the trees in front of it for well over a minute.

Checked out Oblong, but no more eruptions since the one in the dark. The runoff channel from Solstice looked even drier, at least at a distance, which re-inforced the idea that it had quit shortly before my observation the other day.

The final Grand of the day occurred before sunset. There was a delay this time, too. The standard delay where the following Turban eruption is short, with no preceding runoff. This time there was finally a second burst. What made that a little more interesting was the the pause was long, over a minute, and there were several large boop-like boils before the burst actually started.

Headed up to Norris at dawn with the expectation that there wouldn't be much reason to stay past noon. When we arrived at 06:20, what we saw did nothing to persuaded me otherwise. New Crater/Steamboat was pretty quiet. Down at the bridge there was a steady trickle of water, augmented by widely spaced surges from South Vent.

Over the next 3-1/2 hours we never saw anything that looked promising. The weather deteriorated, with a thick gray cloud cover, and no warmth. As for the geyser, there was no vertical activity from North Vent, nothing sustained and definitely nothing approaching any sort of notable surge. The only thing I saw that was moderately encouraging was that it appeared that occasionally the play was nice and wide, and wasn't being killed by South Vent. Was considering moving my deadline from noon to 10:00.

So it was a complete surprise where we got a really nice burst out of North Vent at 09:56. One that kept building, turning into a surge as South Vent joined in. In a matter of seconds, it was obvious that an eruption had started.

Everyone was completely unprepared. It took me 40 seconds to dig out my phone/camera, attach the handle and start recording. I did have the presence of mind to almost immediately run down to the runoff and see what it looked like. I captured the appearance of the North Vent runoff channel filling, impressive how calm that started, only to be a raging stream a few seconds later.

At that point, returned to my seat where I at least covered the packpack in its raincoat. At first it looked like we could get some chokes, as slight the wind was toward the north. The North Vent was brownish and not steady, while the South was taller and continuous.

Then the wind shifted, toward the platform. I had to abandon the area to get out of the rain and into my raingear before becoming soaked. But that also meant that nothing was being washed into the North Vent. It became clear and clean for the rest of the time we were there. The wind kept slowing shifting from down to the bridge to the upper platform. No spot was safe.

After returning to the Upper Basin, went out for Grand. It first had what appeared to be a Turban Delay, which the long duration and subsequent lack of overflow before the next eruption tended to confirm. After two intervals, there was a second delay. This time Grand did erupt on the next opportunity. It was less than 17 minutes later, and overflow from Grand was just starting. Grand filled over the next minute until it finally had a series of increasingly larger boils. One Burst, as usual.

Last night, while waiting for Grand, I thought there was a period of time where the steam from Oblong had increased, and it might be trying to erupt. As it turned out, it did erupt a few hours later. There was a second one while we were still at Norris. So after Grand, when down to check things out. I couldn't see or smell any evidence, despite knowing there had been eruptions.

Also while down there, checked out the Giant platform. Grotto had had a long marathon yesterday lasting until around dawn today. It looked like Bijou started erupting while we were waiting for Grand. The platform was totally dry, which indicates that despite the changes going on around it, Giant isn't ready, yet, for a hot period.

Once again went out for activity at Mugwump and friends. The sequence of events there seemed fairly standard-- Mugwump was erupting every sixteen minutes or so. About five minutes later Three Crater would start having splashes, some up to two meters high. These continued into the next Mugwump eruption, when it would stop. In addition, Myriad Group #1 was active. This would start having strong convection at the time Three Crater would start, and last about two minutes. On one occasion, it had a couple of bursts to about 1/2 meter.

The water level in Sawmill's pool is as high as I've seen it since it was active. I thought I'd post a photo of it showing that. Note the small catchment in the foreground.

Arrived at Grand for a Turban Delay and a West Triplet eruption. The latter wasn't long enough to trigger Rift, and the Delay was for only two Turban intervals. It was a One Burst Grand eruption, not too exciting, but nice sunny conditions.

Got to see Artemisia erupt for the year. Was hot and dry and sunny, so perfect conditions, except the breeze was up the slope, so had to constantly keep shifting position. There was also an Atomizer minor eruption, little more than heavy splashiing, at the start, but didn't stick around for any more activity there.

Was one of the hotest days I've experience here in years. Supposedly the weather station recorded 86F. So was a pleasant surprise for the afternoon One Burst Grand to require only a short wait. During most of the eruption, there was a full rainbow from Vent all the way to Rift. And for the first time in quite a while, there was a short pause before Vent & Turban restarted. Once again, there was a short, about six minute duration West Triplet eruption shortly after.

Later took advantage of the full moon to experience Grand. It cooperated in erupting not only before midnight, but had two bursts. The moon was too high for any rainbows.

First up was a visit to Mugwump and friends. Spent about three-fourths of an hour there, seeing three eruptions. The last was much larger than the first two, in that only the last one put water down the runoff between the pool and the roadway.

Before each eruption, Three Crater started up. A number of the bursts seemed larger than in the previous visit. The activity there stopped with the Mugwump eruption, only to start back up again about six to eight minutes later.

When saw the activity the previous visit, in late June, there was one time when I waited in the evening when there was no breeze but still warm. The pool was dead quiet at times, and it was possible to see convection and upwelling from and area in front of Mugwump's vent. Today, before the last, large eruption I saw, this area boiled heavily and had several bursts to about 25cm. This activity was seen about the time Three Crater started and lasted for a couple of minutes. It was seen again just before the Mugwump eruption.

Over that Grand, all the sputs were quiet prior to the One Burst Eruption. There were consecutive Turban delays. The Grand pool filled slowly during the second delay. There was never a time it looked really good, then dropped. The progression was just extremely slow. So much, that Grand started having heavy boils and even boops nearly two minutes before the eruption finally started.

Down basin, Solstice Geyser is quiet. From what I could tell, the runoff channel was dry and the slime mat was drying out, implying it's been that way for several days. During the days prior to this visit, I'd seen reports of it being both active and quiet, so will be interesting to see if it is becoming intermittent, with long durations and intervals.

At Giant there was no evidence of change or increase in activity. The platform was nearly dry, with just the usual puddle next to Giant's cone that could have been rainwater. At Oblong, I did walk up to it slightly below overflow. That restarted a few minutes later, obvious from the steam coming from the catch basins near the vent.

Conditions in the morning were clear, sunny and almost too hot. That changed by the time it was time to head out to Grand. There had been distant thunder for about an hour before that, and it was mostly cloudy with occasional sprinkles as I headed out. After a couple of Turban intervals I finally had to put on the rain gear.

While the rain stopped by the time the eruption started, the wind shifted and it got more humid. That meant that when Grand started, the northern benches got wet and there was so much steam it was difficult to see much of the eruption. So it was a bit of a surprise when finally, after a minute of waiting, there was the first surge of the start of the second burst. And thanks to that amount of time and the wind direction, it was possible to see the full water column.

I made it as far as the bridge before I had to wait at Castle for a lull in the rain to bicycle back to my cabin.

Today I noticed that the Firehole River is as low as I ever see it, with the ledge at the Sawmill runoff channel completely exposed. But I also noticed some fresh, clean gravel has been washed below it, creating a debris fan. I expect that when Sawmill reactivates, it will create a huge delta, but what caused this small one? Closer examination shows that the area around "Snake Eyes" & SG-#8 is exceptionally clear of debris, as well as the runoff channel, as the photos here show. I suspect there was an eruption there. I didn't notice this when I left in early July.